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Volleyball Sweeps Toledo at Davis Tournament Morning Match

DAVIS, Calif. -- The Washington State volleyball team earned its second win of the season with a 30-28, 34-32, 30-25 win over the University of Toledo Saturday morning at the Howard Johnson Aggie Invitational Tournament hosted by UC Davis.

WSU moves to a 2-1 record and will play host UC Davis at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Toledo is now 2-2 on the season.

The Cougars had 20 team blocks led by Natalia Owen's nine followed by Jen Barcus with seven and Gwen Davis with six. Barcus was the team-leader with eight kills while Kelly Rosin added seven kills. Davis, seeing her first action of the season as the primary setter, had 20 assists while Jalen Pendon had 15 digs.

Kate Bean had 14 kills and 13 digs for the Rockets and Lora Sarich had 20 digs. Rockets' starter Chelsey Poquette ran into the net standard and injured her knee in the second game and did not return to the match.

While WSU had a .091 team hitting percentage, the Cougs' strong front line pushed Toledo to a -.013 hitting percentage.

'It wasn't pretty but we'll take it,' Cougar Head Coach Brian Heffernan said. 'It was a really challenging match for our team. We got down in both games one and two early and had to claw right back. I was really proud of the character and the poise and the composure the team showed in finding a way to stay together and in the end pull out the victory in these games. Natalia Owens did a great job in holding the team together as a passer and server. Jen Barcus, last night and today, elevated her game and provided great offense and blocking for the team. Gwen Davis did a fabulous job of coming in and changing the face of the game which left other people feeling confident. Jalen Pendon has been really solid for us and is finding ways to come back after an error and stick the next ball. Brittany Johnson saw her first action of the season and was passionate in playing and changed the dynamics on the floor including some stuff blocks.'

The Aggie Invite continues Saturday as WSU takes on Toledo at 10 a.m. and host UC Davis at 7 p.m.